New laws affecting drone usage in the state take effect December 1, 2017. One of two new laws prohibits drone usage within a 500 foot horizontal distance or a 250 foot vertical distance of a prison, jail or any correction or containment facility. The other law clarifies that state drone laws also apply to model aircraft as well, though model aircraft remain exempt from the state’s permitting requirements for drones. The law also loosens restrictions on the use of drones in emergency management, specifically lifting restrictions on the use of special imaging technology which previously was only permitted for scientific purposes. The two laws were passed by the General Assembly back in July.
George Olsen is a 1977 Havelock High School graduate. He received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina in 1982 where he got his first taste of non-commercial radio working for their student station WUSC. After graduation he worked about five years in commercial radio before coming to work at Public Radio East where he has remained since outside of a nearly 3-year stint as jazz and operations coordinator at WUAL in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the early 1990s. On his return to eastern North Carolina he hosted classical music for Public Radio East before moving into the Morning Edition host position and now can be heard on All Things Considered. He also hosts and produces The Sound, five hours of Americana, Roots Rock and Contemporary Folk weekday evenings on PRE Public Radio East News & Ideas, and is a news and feature producer for Public Radio East.